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About the News Bureau

University of Missouri News Bureau (573-882-6211) staff members serve as liaisons between the University and the international, national, state and local news media. The primary role of the News Bureau is to tell the Mizzou story worldwide in terms of teaching, research, service and economic development.

News Bureau staff members serve as official institutional spokespersons and also assist students, faculty and staff who have information to disseminate about the University or who are approached by reporters. In this role, the News Bureau reflects the MU administration’s philosophy that public, land-grant universities have an obligation to keep the public informed about services, activities and resources available to them and to respond to any questions or concerns. (The state of Missouri provides 22 percent of MU’s annual budget.) News Bureau staff help reporters gather requested information and provide them with updated information regarding their news stories.

Whenever possible, News Bureau staff members prefer and will work to put reporters in touch with the administrator, faculty or staff member who has the most knowledge about a story. (Sometimes immediate contact is not possible because of calendar commitments and travel schedules.) For reasons of efficiency, reporters often contact the News Bureau initially with their requests; the staff then work as quickly as possible to identify the best source(s) and facilitate a response. MU administration and News Bureau staff encourage employees to talk with reporters, except when advised not to do so by legal counsel. Usually when legal counsel advises that no comment be given, it is because of personnel or litigation issues.

When a University administrator, faculty member or staff member prefers not to talk directly to reporters, News Bureau staff will provide that service, although the News Bureau encourages direct contact with the source in person, by phone or by email. For immediate assistance, faculty, staff and administrators may call the News Bureau at 573-882-6211.

News Bureau staff meet regularly with faculty, department chairs and administration to identify stories that have statewide and national potential for distribution. In addition, they coordinate with communications staff at the MU Health System, MU Extension and Intercollegiate Athletics when appropriate. News Bureau staff members also assist MU colleges and schools with pitching local stories and events on campus.

News Bureau Successes

Last year, the News Bureau used 371 media tools, such as news releases and media advisories, and received more than 16,000 media placements.

A recent study from the Center for a Public Anthropology ranked Mizzou No. 27 out of 94 research universities for the number of media citations received about their research compared to the amount of public grant funding received. The purpose of the rankings is to tout universities that promote practical research results back to the public that funds their research.

Mizzou’s ranking of No. 27 places it third in the SEC and ahead of elite research universities such as Columbia, Yale, Northwestern and Stanford.

The rankings analyzed the number of media placements each university received for research from five different departments: anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology.

These rankings show a direct correlation between research promotion through the MU News Bureau and higher rates of media citations. The MU News Bureau always is willing to work with MU faculty to promote to the media the practical implications of their published research.